21. Foundations
FOUNDATIONS
Malec pushed open the door to the White Room, expecting to find Kalemon checking Allora's vitals while Luko hovered nearby with warm broth and worried instructions. What he found instead stopped him in his tracks.
Luko and Surian sat cross-legged on the floor with Vaeril between them, laughing as the baby's tiny fist wrapped around Surian's finger.
Kalemon stood at the side table mixing herbs in a mortar, humming softly to herself.
And Allora, the mother of his child, lay on her back on a woven mat performing some strange Canariae training method that involved lifting her legs and holding them suspended in the air while her core trembled with effort.
Malec stopped mid-step, his entire body going taut.
Every instinct in him screamed to intervene.
She was overexerting, pushing too hard, her body still healing from birth.
The tether between them pulsed with warning, his magic rising to the surface unbidden.
His hands curled into fists at his sides.
"ALLORA TALANDROS, stop this right now!" The words thundered out of him as he strode across the room.
Allora froze mid-movement, her legs still lifted, and turned her head to stare at him. But before she could tell him to fuck off, her brain caught up with what he'd just said.
"I... what?" She lowered her legs and sat up, wiping sweat off her face with her sleeve. "I am not a Talandros."
Malec stopped in front of her, his eyes sweeping over her form. She had somehow acquired male clothing again, loose trousers and a tunic that hung off her frame, and he wasn't sure what irritated him more: that she was wearing trousers or that they were not his.
"Allora, why are you overexerting your Canariae body? It's only been a few days and you are..." He gestured at the floor, trying to find the words to explain whatever she was doing. "What in the heavens has possessed you to move around like that?"
Kalemon chuckled from across the room. "Don't worry, Your Highness. I'm well versed in Canariae anatomy and biology. Those are called exercises. They actually aid in her healing and keep her body from stiffening. It's good for her."
Allora stuck her tongue out at Malec like a child as she stood stretching. "See? Healer approved. Now get off my back."
Surian and Luko both gave him a look that clearly said would you leave her be?
Malec let out an exasperated sigh, trying his best to calm his instinct to protect and remember what Luko and his father had said about being overbearing, their voices echoing in his head. Give her space. Let her breathe. Stop gripping so tight.
"Of course, dove. I just want you to not hurt yourself." He lifted a hand to wipe a stray bead of sweat from her temple.
She slapped it away, reclaiming her space. "Well, ask next time. And stop calling me Talandros. It's weird."
Malec hesitated, then glanced over at Luko, who smiled at him encouragingly.
"I need to..." He stopped, took a breath, then continued. "I want to ask for your permission to accept my marriage proposal officially. And I want to know if you will accompany me to the Capitol. Surion has summoned you, so you must go, but if you refuse, I will fight for you to not go. However?—"
Before he could finish, Allora untied the sash at her waist and looked up at him. "Yeah. I agree. I'll do it. It's added protection makes perfect sense."
She said it matter-of-factly, as though it were mundane and expected.
Malec had thought she was going to fight him, get angry, demand explanations. He was stunned.
"You... you would accept me as your spouse?"
He tried not to let his eagerness show, but his voice betrayed him.
Allora looked up at him then and saw his face. Her expression softened. "Well, is it ideal to rush into a marriage like this? No. But it makes perfect sense. Your society is built on male domination, I get it. So any added protection would be... let's just say I'd be an idiot to refuse."
Malec couldn't contain his happiness. Even though she was doing it out of survival and less out of desire, it didn't matter because she was allowing him to be hers, it was in a small way to Malec a form of her acceptance of him and that was all Malec could ask for.
He pulled her into his embrace and hugged her, sweat and all.
"Thank you, dove. I don't think you know what this means to me."
She lifted her arms and embraced him back, teasing. "Does this mean my last name will actually be Talandros?"
He kept her in his arms but moved back to see her face, his eyes lit up by sheer joy and love. "Well, if you do not wish it, then I will respect it. But for the documents, it is a must."
Allora looked up at him. "I guess Talandros isn't such a horrible last name."
Malec chuckled and nodded. "It suits you perfectly!"
Luko coughed pointedly, making eye gestures at Malec to remind him.
Malec pulled back slightly, holding Allora gently by the arms and looking into her eyes. "Well, it is not your true name, so I would put on the document your Canariae name. The one I took from you. Mehl-o-dien Jassin Talandros."
Allora stared up at him in pure disbelief. She wasn't sure what was more insulting: that he had said her name and given it back, or that his pronunciation was so god-awful she almost didn't recognize it.
But she recognized what he was giving her.
"My name." Her voice cracked. "I almost forgot I had one."
Tears started forming in her eyes.
Malec's face shifted to worry. He lifted her chin with his hand. "Why do you cry, my light? I thought you would be happy, not sad."
Allora couldn't help herself. "Yeah, well, I think I'm crying because the pronunciation of my name was so bad it brought tears to my eyes."
Kalemon burst into hearty laughter in the background.
"Allora, be nice!" Surian scolded.
Malec laughed too, a welcome sound to those close to him. "Of course. How do you say it? I need to know so that I can yell it out whenever you are doing things that I dislike."
She pronounced it slowly, clearly. He tried to sound it out, failing miserably.
Finally, she gave up. "Wow, Malec. I literally learned your whole language so I could tell you off and you'd understand me, and you can't even pronounce one name."
Malec smiled. "I will get it. Moli-die!"
Allora pushed his chest back, laughing. "Stop it! You're making it worse! Just call me Mel. All my friends at home did."
Malec leaned his head down to brush his mouth against her lips, slow enough to ask for permission as he said, "As you wish, my Mel."
She smiled back at him and lifted up to kiss him.
The soul-tether between them ignited. The bond flared to life, golden and warm, threading through their chests and wrapping around their hearts like silk. They deepened the kiss as their souls finally remembered each other, recognized each other, welcomed each other home.
Kalemon grumbled from across the room. "Should we all leave, or what?"
Surian and Luko chuckled.
The kiss ended reluctantly. They pulled back just enough to look at each other, truly look, as though no one else was in the room.
And Malec, for the first time, started to get it.
Started to truly understand what everyone had been trying to tell him.
It was okay to hold onto her. That was not the issue.
It was how he did it. And what he did to keep her there.
Melodie guided Malec to the table in front of Kalemon, her voice animated as she began explaining what she'd been working on. Malec smiled, watching her share her world with him, finally allowed to be herself without his interference.
"So we've been doing some research trying to figure out how it is that Vaeril can exist," she said, gesturing to the scattered notes and diagrams spread across the table. "We haven't found much because of the limited equipment we have access to, but we're finding some promising leads."
She picked up one of Kalemon's sketches.
"We know it has something to do with your blood and my compatibility.
Those words you spoke whenever you gave me your blood?
They seem to have created some kind of...
binding effect at a cellular level. And Vaeril told me he had to give me energy during the pregnancy, which makes me think Awyan fetuses require more metabolic support than a Canariae mother can provide on her own. "
Malec listened intently, his eyes tracking her movements.
"My theory is that Awyans can conceive with Canariae, but the embryo doesn't take root. Or maybe the zygote is rejected as a foreign body by the mother's immune system. Without proper equipment, though, I can't see what's truly going on at a genetic or cellular level."
Fire flared in her eyes as she spoke, passion lighting her features in a way that made his chest tighten. He thanked the gods he had never actually succeeded in destroying that fire in her, that he got to witness it firsthand instead of snuffing it out forever.
Melodie continued, slower now, watching his reaction carefully. "And this is why I want to find another portal. So I can go to my labs and have access to the equipment I need."
She looked up at him, waiting for the explosion.
No explosion came.
Malec knew his instinct was to say no, to shut this down immediately.
But things had changed drastically. It was more dangerous in his world for her now.
She would be hunted, sought after, bargained for like livestock.
Maybe her returning would be the best choice for her safety.
He looked at her, his expression unreadable.
He wouldn't lie to her, but every day it was becoming more apparent that her staying was endangering her.
"What does that entail?" he asked, giving away no emotion. "Give me the details."
It was a start.
Melodie's whole demeanor relaxed. He saw it and took note.